2006 Mexico DC-9 drug bust

 2006 Mexico DC-9 drug bust (deep event,  drug bust,  drug trafficking)

Date	April 10, 2006
Location	Mexico
Description	A DC-9 made an emergency landing and was found to be containing over 5 tonnes of cocaine. The pilot "disappeared", unnamed, and the plane was deregistered and sold within days to an unknown customer in Venezuela. No arrests are known to have been made or charges laid in connection with the owners of the plane.

An aging DC-9 which was not fit to fly used for moving cocaine from Venezuela to USA had an engine failure and made an emergency landing in Mexico. Michael Braun, Chief of Operations of the DEA testified in congress that 5.6 tonnes of cocaine were found aboard the plane. The pilots were never apprehended, and the plane also "disappeared". Arrests are reported, but no one is known to have gone to trial as a result of this deep event.

Official Narrative

The article was created on Wikipedia in 2006, and although soon after it was created it was nominated for speedy deletion, it remains there as of 2015. The Wikipedia talk page notes that "most of the mainstream media sources on this story have removed the stories for some reason", so the official narrative would seem to be more or less that this didn't happen, or, as a senior editor once said about the BBC's premature report of the collapse of a skyscraper in New York: "If we reported [it], it would have been an error - no more than that."

Plane History

Originally manufactured in 1966 for Trans-World Airlines as N1061T, the aircraft has had a long career flying for various individuals and companies, including Tracinda Investment (N241TC), Kenny Rogers (N9KR), Southmark Corporation (N89SM), the Seattle Seahawks (N40SH), Aircraft 45775, Inc, and HW Aviation. It "was Howard Dean's presidential campaign plane in 2004". The paper trail of ownership is convoluted in the years up to the bust.

Skyway Communications LLC

The DC-9 sporting a Skyway logo in 2004, 8 months before the corresponding stock swap was reported to the SEC.
Photo: D.R. 2004 Michael Cater, Airliners.net

Skyway Communications LLC (not to be confused with the similarly located Skyway Communications Inc.) is the parent company of Skyway Aircraft in Clearwater. Skyway Communications arranged to purchase the DC-9 (tail number N900SA) via a stock swap with the Costa Rica-based firm Dupont Investment Fund 57289, according to an 8K filing with the SEC of in 15 November 2004. A Collateralized Loan Agreement with Lantex, Ltd was filed on December 16, 2004 It is interesting that photographs reveal that the aircraft was already sporting the SkyWay logo in April 2004, months before the change of ownership was officially reported.

Royal Sons

In August 2005 the jet was registered with the FAA by a company called Royal Sons Inc. [Daniel Hopsicker]] writes that "Royal Sons Motor Yacht Sales, Inc. DBA Royal Sons" and a company owned by Brent Kovar (a friend of Tom DeLay) called Skyway Communications Holding Corp jointly signed a loan with United Bank and Trust Company in St. Petersburg, FL. for $1.5 million.

'Jorge Corrales'

It was reportedly sold to an unknown Venezuelan buyer just days before the bust in Mexico. The Tampa Bay Times reported that a "man identifying himself as Jorge Corrales said he needed a plane for a traveling soccer team. The plane's owner, Fred Geffon, needed the money" and received six payments from Corrales totaling $1.047-million. Frederick J. Geffon, president of Royal Sons, was a shareholder in Skyway Communications and his company was a major creditor in the Skyway Communications bankruptcy.

The FAA stated that an aviation inspector had authorized one flight to a hangar in Caracas, Venezuela, so the plane could be repaired, noting that overseas repairs would have been cheaper. The plane flew to Venezuela, but was not repaired there.

The Flight

The aircraft departed Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas, Venezuela on the afternoon of April 10, 2006. It was painted with the distinctive blue and white color color scheme of official U.S. Government planes, with an official-looking seal painted on its side, announcing "SKY WAY AIRCRAFT - PROTECTION OF AMERICA'S SKIES", with a familiar eagle and olive branch motif. The DC-9 was preceded by a smaller executive jet, possibly a Falcon business jet of Mexican registry (XB-IYK).

The Cargo

Artists impression of the luggage

It is unknown where, perhaps in Caracas or perhaps Columbia, the plane was loaded with 5.5 tons of cocaine, packed in 128 pieces of identical black suitcases with the word "PRIVATE" stenciled on the side. Approximately 1.5 hours into the flight, it reportedly returned to the airport and refueled before resuming its flight to Toluca, Mexico.

Emergency landing in Ciudad del Carmen

At some time into the flight they made an emergency landing at the Ciudad del Carmen airport, 350 miles to the southwest of Cancun claiming hydraulic problems with the landing gear. The flight crew told the ground crew to keep people away from the aircraft, claiming leaking oil could be hazardous and that a tire could explode. The pilot reportedly left the area at this time and was never caught or identified. One source names the official pilot as "Alberto Damiani", but notes that he was not flying the plane.

The Bust

The Mexican police approached the aircraft with drug-sniffing dogs and the ground crew attempted to keep them away, but to no avail. The dogs identified the presence of drugs and the police entered the aircraft, possibly arresting the co-pilot, Miguel Vicente Vázquez Guerra or (Carmelo Vázquez Guerra?), a Colombian National with Venezuelan passport.

A Falcon business jet of Mexican registry (XB-IYK) owned by the Government of Mexico's Water Commission, was making a rendezvous with the DC-9. Some reports that say Mexican soldiers patrolling the airport observed a Falcon arriving several days before the DC-9's arrival. The two pilots were Fernando Poot Pérez and Marco Antonio Pérez Gracia, both employees of the National Water Commission of Mexico. They reportedly attempted to pay for the DC-9 to make an emergency landing after the airport closed. They were arrested, and the latter (associated with another doomed drug flight, N987SA) supposedly hung himself "with his socks", in the maximum security Altiplano prison facility outside Mexico City.

Fallout

Both before and after the bust, the aircraft was listed for sale on the website of United Flite (with identical - and therefore mendacious statistics of its flying time) a company with the same address as several aviation companies, including Royal Sons. This information was removed as "irrelevant" by Wikipedia administrator "Akradecki". Daniel Hopsicker opines that this is a CIA front company.

Royal Sons’ Frederick Geffon pleads ignorance and stated that "I just chalked it all up to a bad experience".

Murders in Mexico

The Director of Civil Aviation in the Yucatan, Jose Luis Soladana Ortiz was assassinated on his way to work, the same day that three tortured bodies were discovered alongside a road near the Merida airport. Martin Gomez Soto, a traffic controller at Cancun International Airport, was abducted and is presumed dead.

Investigation

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reportedly interviewed the officials interviewed Fred Geffon about the cocaine found on board. No charges were forthcoming.

Rating

19 August 2016 Robin  "Cocaine One" - 5½ tons of cocaine aboard a plane that lands in Mexico. It then disappears.
Many people are still unaware that things like this can happen. The CIA connected plane was later used for rendition. Porter Goss suddenly resigns as CIA Director for unstated reasons. Corporate media uninterested.

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.

External links

• FAA - N-Number Inquiry Results for N900SA
• Airliners.net - Photographs Of Aircraft
• Flight Track Information for N900SA

Rating

19 August 2016 Robin  "Cocaine One" - 5½ tons of cocaine aboard a plane that lands in Mexico. It then disappears.
Many people are still unaware that things like this can happen. The CIA connected plane was later used for rendition. Porter Goss suddenly resigns as CIA Director for unstated reasons. Corporate media uninterested.

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.